Forged 6inch chef's knife with a hamon.

[Jason Cutter]

Finally got onto a kitchen knife. Starting with 3/16inch thick stock, I managed to forge down the edge for lots of hand clearance when chopping. I don't think its anything fancy, just a simple working design with a few extras like the hamon. Thanks for looking. Jason.

[hammerdownnow]

Very nice. I like it! Looks fancy to me.

[ZENGHOST]

Beautiful, Jason .

[Gabe Newell]

First off, a hand-forged differentially hardened carbon steel kitchen knife is inherently A Good Thing?. It makes me want to go cook something just looking at it.

I'm curious about the apparent large amount of curve on the edge and the orientation of the edge relative to the handle.

Maybe it's just that I am more used to a santoku style (e.g.


and other styles that drop the point to keep the cutting edge parallel to the handle:



Here's a Wusthof



and a Henckel 5-star



Seems like the Henckel is closest to yours.

[hammerdownnow]

Gabe, So you are saying the tip should be in line with the bottom edge of the handle? That is good to know if it is.

Did knife princess come up off that Buster for ya? That would be a nice jewel for the collection.

[Steinroehder]

The Henckel's been made in my old home, Solingen.
It's actually not called a 'Henckel' but a 'Zwilling'
(which is, as the logo implies, the German translation for 'twins').

Those are seriously well designed knives and have a top reputation. The only thing that bugs me is the 'plastic' handle... it's been engineered to be dishwasher safe (but whoever puts this knife in a dishwasher should be punished )

IMHO, if they put a good stabilized hardwood handle on, it would be so much more appealing...

Cheers,

Georg

[Jason Cutter]

Gabe, you raise an important point in the design of kitchen knives. I've actually been studying this very issue to try to optimise my "own" style of kitchen cutlery.

The straight angle handle does present the edge and point in a more "direct" and intuitive (for some) angle. The major drawback for me is that on most such knives, when cutting with the flatter portion of the blade, there is the tendency for the fingers to foul the chopping surface. Often, you can eliminate bumping the knuckles by positioning your hand so it is offset from the chopping surface, but this is not always possible or practical.

One solution is to have a broader / taller blade. This may not be practical given that my knife is only 6.5inch long. The other is to do what I did - to angle the blade in such a way that the fingers are well clear of the chopping board. If you look at Ray Roger's website, many of his kitchen knives also feature that type of "enhanced" blade to handle angle.



The other reason for the more radical angle is that I find it easier to control the slice if I am PUSHING into the slice rather than pulling the edge through the slice. The increased handle angle directs the force of the cut through the blade and gives a push cutting action. It DOES help if your cutting surface is not too high - it would be uncomfortable.



I hope this explains my rationale. Its not accidental. I'm also about to make an ATS-34 MiniChefs Knife with only a 4inch blade with an even more radical angle... Cheers. Jason.

[Steinroehder]

Your design makes sense.

I also prefer a pushing motion. This is greatly aided when the part of the edge closest to the handle is still a bit rounded. The cutting style with most japanese kitchen knives is done placing the knive point on the chopping surface and push the knife down with a slicing motion, that's why the santoku style has a mostly straight edge with only a slight curvature.

Apart from that, your knife is very good looking, although I would have preferred the blade back to be straight - just a matter of personal taste.

Another sidenote:

With kitchen knives, even greater attention is required for seamless fittings. Most knive manufactures in Germany have that as a distinct point in their advertisements to stress how hygienic and durable their product is, because no food fluids or fibres can get between handle and bolsters or blade. Many people also don't quite understand that high quality knives are not to be soaked in water for a long time, so take care that your fitting joints are well sealed

Cheers,

Georg

[Jason Cutter]

Thanks for the insight.

Thats the reason I'm going to making a range in carbon steel (fancier finish etc.) and the stainless ones, eg.- ATS-34.

While anyone can use a knife of their choice at home, in commercial cooking, most standards demand, as you mentioned - the highest codes of hygiene, which usually means carbon steel is prohibited, and almost always a sealed synthetic handle, ie.- hidden tang. I'm not sure how strictly these rules are enforced. Most Chinese restaurants have forged carbon steel cleavers in their kitchens. Jason.

[Gabe Newell]

Makes sense, Jason. As always, your design choices are thought provoking.

[blgoode]

I too have been thinking of this same design function! Angle the blade MORE and you need a less TALL knife so that your nucles clear the cutting board

[hammerdownnow]

Sometimes, what they tell you is good for you may not be so good for you. I don't see why a board as a handle would matter if you are cutting the food on a board? The exotic woods we use and the hazards of breathing the toxic dust from them would make you think they would be really deadly to bacteria.
cuttingboards(must read)

I also heard that iron is mildly poisonous. Someone should do a study with carbon vrs. stainless vrs bacteria like they did the cutting boards.

[NJStricker]

Iron is mildly poisonous when ingested in the body in large doses, or, when the body can't process it properly at normal levels. The result is potential liver damage, followed by damage to other organs. (The liver processes and stores iron.) In normal amounts (e.g. you're not taking excessive iron supplements daily) it is an essential trace element. It is a critical element for the formation of hemoglobin in blood cells.

I've not heard of anyone dying from iron toxicity from using carbon steel cutlery.

[Nat Bassett]

If carbon steel cutlery gave off toxic levels of iron, imagine what cast iron cookware would do to you!

Personally, I like iron cookware and hammered carbon steel woks, but am extremely leery of Teflon. I'm even suspicious of aluminum.

Nat.

[hammerdownnow]

I was not worried about it harming humans, but rather its effect on bacteria growth.